Increasingly, public schools are coming to acknowledge that new ways of doing business
are necessary if students are to excel in the 21st Century. Contracting for instruction is
a practical option for school boards and school administrators interested in strengthening
accountability, cutting costs, increasing flexibility, or taking advantage of outside
expertise and innovations. Instead of hiring an employee at a given rate, school
administrators buy the performance and output of an educator for a given price, to
paraphrase Ted Kolderie, one of the pioneers of the private-practice concept and director
of the Center for Policy Studies in St. Paul. Such an arrangement, if properly monitored,
makes the private-practice teacher accountable for results, not just for the process of
teaching.

A "new breed" of teachers is demanding greater opportunities for autonomy and professional growth. Meanwhile, parents are demanding better educational outcomes for their children.

In turn, the contract arrangement elevates the professional status of teachers.
Contracting with a private-practice teacher requires school administrators to deal with
educators on a professional basis. Private practice enables teachers to take control of
their own careers, negotiate their own compensation, and make their own decisions about
how to use time, resources, and methodologies.

Ellen Larkin Sternig, an educator in private practice, says the "new breed"
of teachers is demanding greater opportunities for autonomy and professional growth.
Meanwhile, parents are demanding better educational outcomes for their children. These two
crosscurrents in education are changing the way schools--and educators--deliver
instruction. "Every major company is going through restructuring and so is
education," says Sternig. "Either you're going to be part of it, and make it
happen, or you're going to be pulled along."